Gift Giving
Dec 11th, 2007 by learningumbrella
This weekend, my father-in-law gave us a really cool early Christmas present.
There was an Alternative Giving Fair in town, which featured tables from local and larger non-profit organizations. We all went down there, us and my SIL and MIL and FIL, and my FIL gave us all cash to donate how we pleased.
Most of the organizations there were too hard for Carbon to understand, but the local chapter of the Audubon Society caught his eye and that is where he donated his money. He had a nice chat with their volunteer about his bird feeders and what birds lived in his yard, and she gave him a little field guide and encouraged him to “keep it up”. It was cute.
DH’s interests in gardening and farming led us to donate to two local organic organizations, one a farm that employs the developmentally disabled and the other a program that helps low-income people set up kitchen gardens for themselves.
To round it out, I gave to the Senior Services that provides Meals on Wheels and a respite care program. It’s always seemed important to me that we properly care for our elders.
After everyone was done with their donations, we all went out to lunch together.
In a weekend full of shopping and eating really rich food, it felt good to take some time off and do something more meaningful.
What a wonderful gift! I love this idea! And thanks for the tip on the bird watching. We will hae to add some goodies when we send back Flat Carbon!
What a fantastic idea. Wonderful!
Oh, this sounds like a wonderful idea. I hope, at some point, our extended families are able to come together and do something like this. We’d love it but the rest of the gang isn’t quite there yet.